Mom Posts Letter to Skateboarder Who Showed Big Heart Despite Pals

A six-year-old girl got a private lesson in skateboarding, while her mother got a lesson in not judging others.

Jeanean Thomas was thrown for a loop the day she took her daughter to the skate park in Hamilton, Ontario for the first time. They were both a bit intimidated by the group of older boys smoking and cursing nearby, but Jeanean pushed Peyton to go ahead and try her board.

After a few awkward tries, and the other skateboarders zipping past her, one of them approached the girl.

She wrote about misjudging the skaters at first, and how her daughter wanted to leave rather than try riding on the same course.

“I secretly wanted to go too because I didn’t want to have to put on my mom voice and exchange words with you,” Jeanean wrote in the Hamilton Spectator.

Then she talked about how the skater was patient, helping Peyton up when she fell, giving her pointers on where to set her feet, and keeping her away from dangerous parts of the course where she wasn’t ready to skate.

“I am proud that you are part of my community, and I want to thank you for being kind to my daughter, even though your friends made fun of you for it,” Jeaneane wrote. “She left the skate park with a sense of pride and with the confidence that she can do anything–because of you.”

The Cambridge Times later learned the helpful “boy” was actually 20-year-old Ryan Carney who brushed off all the fuss made over his actions.